Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Uma's expulsion

The axe has finally fallen on Uma Bharti who has been blowing hot and cold for quite some time now. Although the sanyasin politician's grouse of not being reinstated as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh was genuine, it was her mode of protest that crossed the Lakshman rekha of party discipline resulting in her exit. What remains to be seen is the extent of damage she inflicts on the BJP. The party, on the other hand, needs to do some introspection on the propriety of imposing Chief Ministers on States ruled by it.

B. Suresh Kumar,
Coimbatore

The BJP has done the right thing by expelling Ms. Bharti. She has been indulging in indiscipline with impunity, and probably believed she was indispensable. The BJP leadership should not reverse its stand against her as it did in the past. Only a strict attitude will inculcate discipline among the party cadre.

C. Lakshmi Narain,
Chennai

The drama surrounding Ms. Bharti's anti-party outbursts has finally come to an end. Her accusations against the second-rung leadership in the BJP are not altogether without substance though.

Rashmi Singh,
Visakhapatnam, A.P.

At last the senior leaders of the BJP decided to wield the stick. Ms. Bharti's expulsion will certainly bolster the party's image and send the signal that it will not brook indiscipline. Immediate rumblings will be felt in the BJP-ruled States but the long-term effect of cleansing the party of such elements will be more beneficial to it.

S. Vasudevan,
Chennai

Ms. Bharti's reaction to the consistent betrayal and humiliation by the BJP high command and her peers over the last two years and more was quite natural, if not wholly justified. During the Hubli episode, she was inveigled by her party bosses into resigning from the post of Chief Minister and encouraged to go on a Tiranga yatra. She was made the sacrificial lamb then for the sake of getting an emotive issue to shore up the party's dwindling popularity. Even after the Karnataka Government withdrew the case against her, she was not reinstated. Again, when a change of guard was in the offing, the democratic procedure of allowing the BJP legislators to elect their new leader was given the go-by. Under the circumstances, blaming Ms. Bharti alone for the chaos in the BJP is not fair.

Shahabuddin Nadeem,
Bangalore

The BJP used Ms. Bharti for building a mass base and has now found it fit to dump her. Her expulsion strengthens the belief that leaders belonging to the backward classes are expendable. Earlier, it was Kalyan Singh who was utilised to pull down the Babri Masjid, then it was Bangaru Laxman, and now it is Ms. Bharti.

N. Jayaraj,
Chennai

Ms. Bharti was the key player in the last elections to the Madhya Pradesh legislature. She is a grassroots leader with mass appeal. Her charges about the manner in which the BJP is being run are true. The party seems to serve only those belonging to the forward castes.

R. Raghavendra,
Bangalore

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